[bkw911]

I am from midwest area (IN) and really want to utilize my Tivo's now that we FINALLY got cable again, we live out in the county & had a few channels over antenna and streaming Netflix, Hulu etc.thru Apple TV. But now that we have cable (which is fiber) I wanted to utilize my Tivo's again, but am being told from our local TDS that they don't have MCards/Cable Cards (which is a shame cause I have Tivo's and Tivo Minis all with lifetimes on them). Has anyone else made this work or is there anything I can do to make my already paid for Tivo's and Lifetime services work with this?

Thanks for you time!

 

[302481]

Can’t use TiVo on cable without a cable card.

 

[NashGuy]

I am from midwest area (IN) and really want to utilize my Tivo's now that we FINALLY got cable again, we live out in the county & had a few channels over antenna and streaming Netflix, Hulu etc.thru Apple TV. But now that we have cable (which is fiber) I wanted to utilize my Tivo's again, but am being told from our local TDS that they don't have MCards/Cable Cards (which is a shame cause I have Tivo's and Tivo Minis all with lifetimes on them). Has anyone else made this work or is there anything I can do to make my already paid for Tivo's and Lifetime services work with this?

Thanks for you time!

Most fiber operators, including TDS, deliver their pay TV service on their fiber network as IPTV (internet protocol television), which has never been compatible with CableCARDs. So the bad news is that there's no way for you to use the TiVo DVRs you own with TDS.

The good news, though, is that TDS's own fiber-delivered pay TV service, called TDS TV+, is a partnership with TiVo, who supplies the technology powering that system. So if you subscribe to TDS TV+ and rent their boxes, they come with a TiVo remote and the on-screen user interface is designed by TiVo. Additionally, those boxes run atop Google's Android TV operating system, so they have the Google Play app store and the Google Assistant built in too, so you'll have access to a whole lot more streaming apps on their boxes than you ever had on your old CableCARD TiVo DVRs.

TDS TV+ Programming & Packages |TDS

Paired with the unifying smarts and innovation of TiVo, TDS TV+ brings together your live, recorded and streaming TV favorites in one amazing place.

tdstelecom.com

 

[dlfl]

Amazing! Never heard of TDS before this but apparently it’s pretty big in rural and suburban areas. I grew up in Naptown so curious: where are you located?

Probably time to put your TiVo stuff on eBay though. Consider YouTube TV for an unlimited DVR and channels similar to cable TV at a reasonable price. You do need something like a Fire stick, Roku or Apple TV at each TV for this. Some smart TV’s support YTTV but that way is not recommended as the apps tend to be clunky or poorly updated.

 

[dishrich]

cause I have Tivo's and Tivo Minis all with lifetimes on them

Which Tivo model specifically do you have? If it's one that works on either cable OR antenna, you could still use it on an antenna...

 

[NashGuy]

Probably time to put your TiVo stuff on eBay though.

Yup. The OP ought to sell those TiVo boxes with lifetime subscriptions now, while they still have some value, since he'll never be able to use them with cable TV at his address. And better to sell them sooner rather than later. I have a feeling that a couple years from now (end of '24), there will be a whole lot more cable subscribers across the country whose local provider no longer supports CableCARD...